TEHRAN (Iran News) In a message to the closing ceremony of the 41st International Quran Competition in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, President Masoud Pezeshkian emphasized the importance of countering global imperialism’s efforts and use of media to portray Islam and the Quran as threats to humanity.

The event was held from Saturday, January 26, to Friday, January 31, with the participation of 59 reciters and memorizers of the entire Quran from 27 countries.

The president stated that although the main goal of this movement is to plunder the human and material resources of Muslims, by the grace of God and the efforts of all practitioners of the Quran, their malicious plans will fail.

Pezeshkian also highlighted that one of the significant realities of the region and today’s world is resistance against oppression and inequality, and helping the oppressed, which stems from the teachings of the Holy Quran.

Prophet Mohammad [PBUH] had rightly said that the superiority of the Quran over other words is like the superiority of Allah over humans, he added.

The president stated that the Holy Quran addresses human nature regardless of race, color, class, and religion, and guides humanity to perfection.

Pezeshkian added that under the sublime teachings of the Quran, people can find a firm and hopeful refuge in today’s turbulent world to escape ignorance, oppression, and inequality, and live peacefully together with justice, kindness, and without violence.

He said that in the Holy Quran, Muslims are addressed as a single community (the Umma) and are asked to gather together and avoid any division.

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Several instances of Quran-burning took place in Sweden, the most notable of which occurred in June 2023, when a 37-year-old Iraqi refugee ripped out and set fire to pages of the Quran outside the Stockholm Mosque. This was done under the watchful eye of the Swedish foreign ministry, stating in the wake of the aggression that Sweden has a “constitutionally protected right to freedom of assembly, expression and demonstration”. On Monday, 31st of July, the same men who partook in the initial burning kicked and stomped on a Quran before setting some pages from the book alight.

Indeed, the act of burning or insulting the Quran by individuals or groups is less important than the host government allowing such acts and even coming to its defense, since sedition is worse than killing and this fosters an environment of hatred, whereby the effects are more far-reaching. It is worth exploring the real purpose for the authorities to allow this matter if it is taken into consideration that burning the Quran leads to sympathy for Muslims as it constitutes a moral assault on them, more so than it leads to Islamophobia.

Allowing the burning of the Quran is not only related to generating Islamophobia, rather it is part of an activity against all values and religions at the present time.

The act of burning the Quran is often an individual act, resulting from grudges or is funded by external forces serving political goals.  The state allowing Quran burning is also motivated by political goals, and it is not the case that they wish to uphold ‘freedom of expression’ or any supposed Western value for that matter, since it is forbidden to carry Nazi symbols in Sweden. One can also glance at the national laws that prohibit discrimination in various aspects of life based on ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, or physical disability.

It is poignant to ask, why when it comes to the sanctities of religions the legislation does not come to its defense, whilst the resulting effects of attacking what is holy on society are worse than acts of personal discrimination against individuals. The reality is that the subject matter has nothing to do with fighting religion or hostility towards any religion per se- Capitalist Western governments do not care about religion, rather they employ it as a tool to achieve political goals and objectives based on conflicts and strife.

This tactic is a state of continuity of the previous political orientation whereby the American right sought to create a ‘New Middle East’, which required reviving an environment conducive to terrorism in Islamic countries and Islamophobia in Western countries, employing everything that helps create strife between religions. This matter has led to exaggerated extremism among groups and sectors in Islamic countries, the West, and in countries where ethnicities are mixed. Since the West has exhausted its goals and closed the chapter on the ‘New Middle East’ project, the reality is that generating Islamophobia is no longer in and of itself a goal for governments.

Given that the priorities of the West have shifted and are no longer the same, what is the purpose of allowing a free violation of the symbols of religions? The reality is that this tactic is simply a continuity of the past and has become part of a broader and more comprehensive goal, despite the changing policies and priorities. Allowing the burning of the Quran is not only related to generating Islamophobia, rather it is part of an activity against all values and religions at the present time.

The goal of America, the leader of capitalism in the world that is followed by Western countries, is not confined to fighting Islam and its extensions, nor is it confined to fighting Iran as an active and influential case of true Islamic action in existing conflicts, as it was in the Trump era. The current goal of capitalism is to reshape the collective mind of mankind to qualify for submission to any goal they may have in mind, whilst the goal has become more comprehensive and encompasses the destruction of values and morality.

These Western policies may resonate in most parts of the world, but not in the Islamic world, because the provisions of Islam are not subject to modification and change, as mentioned in the Holy Quran, ‘take whatever the Messenger gave you, and what he forbade you, refrain from’. Islam possesses the alternative and possesses the call to spread it, and entrenched within it is to come to its defence. Even the Western puppets among the rulers of the Muslims do not possess anything from the matter when it comes to clear evidence and rulings, for example, it is not acceptable for a ruler of Islamic countries to forego Jerusalem to the Zionists, even if ties were normalised with the Zionist entity and this was public knowledge.

Moreover, creating extremist reactions from Muslims is another goal, and a part of nurturing Islamophobia is creating social unrest. The reality is that Islamophobia is a goal that serves political agendas, for example it serves as a psychological precondition to further wars in Muslim countries, the provides justification for expanding counter-terrorism laws that weaken the identity of a Muslim in the West as is effective in creating a deterrent, so the masses are not influenced by the objective vision of Islam. The effect of allowing actions such as the burning of the Quran is to create an atmosphere unprepared for the spread of Islam.

However, this also creates a backlash, which is the encouragement of disorder, crime and terrorism, attacking the societal structure of multi-ethnic societies, the increased competition between races and the lack of integration between races and religions. This also backfires on the economic fronts, where boycotts ensue and production becomes less, as a result of instability.

The time has come for this incitement and violation to stop once and for all through influential Islamic action, whether at the level of influential Islamic countries, Islamic organizations and parties, or the Muslim public in all countries. Take for example Iraq expelling their Swedish ambassador and Iran summoning Swedish diplomats over desecrations of the Quran.

Pressure should also be applied to enact laws and material legislation at the level of international organizations and Western countries that allow this matter. As a result of the ensuing pressure, last month the Human Rights Council at the UN condemned the burning of the Quran as a religious hate act, urging countries to “address, prevent and prosecute acts and advocacy of religious hatred”. Moreover, Denmark is currently exploring legal action against Quran burnings, as it has severely affected international relations and heightened diplomatic tensions between the country and throughout West Asia.

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Abstract

TEHRAN (Iran News) Thus, the concept of love has been first clarified and then it has been proved that love means unusual passion, not passion beyond ration. These two books have been then compared in the field of love. The most important findings of this article are in monotheistic approach which introduces God as infinite, the meaning of unlimited passion and blessings of God overlaps the concept of love and they have paradigmatic relation with love. Moreover, concept of love is the most important commonality between these two books, because they have gnostic approach to the existence and concept of love has been strongly emphasized in both. Finally the scope of love in both include mutual love of God and humans, humans’ love for all humans and humans’ love for all existence.

Keywords

Love; The New Testament; The Qur’an; Monotheism; Agape; Rahmat

Full Text:

PDF

References

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The post The Concept of Love in the New Testament and the Qur’an appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Stockholm police spokesman Mats Eriksson said police had granted permission for a “demonstration involving two people” outside the Iraqi embassy.

On Friday, a small group of extremists in Stockholm desecrated the Quran by kicking and partially damaging the holy book. Reports suggest they did not burn it as they had planned to do so.

According to Swedish media reports, the blasphemous act was planned by Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi asylum seeker in Sweden who also set ablaze pages of a Quran in front of Stockholm’s largest mosque during the Islamic Eid al-Adha holiday late last month.

The Iraqi government has now expelled the Swedish ambassador in response to the repeated permissions being granted by the Swedish government to allow the burning a copy of the Holy Quran.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani has also directed the Foreign Ministry to recall the country’s charge d’affaires from the Republic of Iraq’s embassy in Sweden.

Baghdad has informed the Swedish government, through diplomatic channels, “that any recurrence of the incident involving the burning of the Holy Quran on Swedish soil or to grant approvals under the pretext of freedom of expression would necessitate severing diplomatic relations”, a government statement warned.

State news media reported that Baghdad has suspended working permits for Swedish businesses such as telecom giant Ericsson on Iraqi soil.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry has announced that Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein issued a request to hold an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to address the repeated insults to Islam’s holy book.

The ministry has also issued a statement condemning the storming of the Swedish embassy.

“The Iraqi government has instructed the competent security authorities to conduct an urgent investigation and take the necessary security measures in order to uncover the circumstances of the incident and identify the perpetrators of this act and hold them accountable according to the law,” the Foreign Ministry said.

Ahead of the planned Quran burning, angry protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad early Thursday, breaking into the compound and lighting a small fire.

Videos circulating on social media shows demonstrators at the diplomatic mission waving flags and photos showing Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

The footage shows dozens of men climbing over the fence at the complex, with the sound of them trying to break down a front door. Another video, which cannot be authenticated, shows what appears to be a small fire being set.

Videos also show a group of men inside what appears to be a room at the embassy. An alarm is audible in the background. Others performed morning prayers outside of the embassy.

Police and other security officials gathered at the embassy as small plumes of smoke still rose. Firefighters tried to douse the flames from the ladder of a fire truck.

The Finnish embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone is adjacent to the Swedish embassy, in an area that is surrounded by blast walls. Finland’s ambassador to Iraq told the Finnish public broadcaster YLE that the Swedish and Finnish embassy staff had evacuated the area on Wednesday and were unharmed.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that the approval of a protest with intent to burn the Quran was “legitimate, but not appropriate.”

Regarding the incident at the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, he said that this was a security breach that must be dealt with immediately, and those responsible for security must be held accountable.

Before being recalled to Baghdad, Sweden  summoned Iraq’s charge d’affaires in Stockholm.

“The attacks against the Swedish embassy in Iraq are completely unacceptable. It is the second time in a short time that this has happened. Iraq has a responsibility to protect Sweden’s embassy in Baghdad. The government will today summon Iraq’s top diplomat in Sweden,” Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said in a statement.

The Iraqi government’s emergency meeting ordered those responsible for storming the embassy, ??who were arrested, to the judiciary, as well as referring any negligent security officials for an investigation, and to take legal measures against them.

Just weeks ago, Momica burned a copy of the Holy Quran in front of Stockholm’s largest Mosque, when Muslims were celebrating Eid al-Adha, which triggered widespread condemnation in Islamic countries, and a call from the OIC to take collective measures against the repeated desecration of the Quran, while Yemen issued a decision to boycott Swedish products.

Earlier this year, the Swedish police also allowed Rasmus Paludan, leader of the far-right Danish Stram Kurs party, to burn a copy of the Quran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.

MASS PROTESTS 

In Iran, protesters braved the summer heat to flood the streets nationwide. Footage shows demonstrations in capital Tehran, Sari, Birjand, Kermanshah, Mashhad, Qom, and elsewhere.

People across Lebanon staged mass protests outside mosques and churches across the country after Friday prayers following a call by the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

During a speech marking the month of Muharram, Nasrallah called on the Lebanese people to “show their support for the Quran and gather in front of mosques, so that it is not an ordinary Friday”

Seyyed Nasrallah added, “The title of our sit-in in front of all mosques and churches should be to demand that governments withdraw their ambassadors from Sweden and expel the ambassadors of Sweden.”

People across Lebanon heeded the call with footage showing large rallies outside different places of worship.

Thousands have protested in Pakistan in response to the planned burning of the Quran.

Anti-Swedish rallies have also been staged in different Muslims countries, including the Iraq capital.

Demonstrations took place across Iraq following a call by the coordination framework “in support of God’s religion and His Holy Book,” calling on Arab and Islamic countries, and the OIC to “take strong steps and positions to stop this flagrant violation of the sanctity of Islam and Muslims.”

OTHER REACTIONS 

The Iraqi coordination framework (a coalition of political parties with a parliamentary majority) announced its strong condemnation and denounced Swedish authorities for again allowing an extremist to burn a copy of the Quran.
The coordination framework affirmed its support for the “courageous decision” of the government for issuing a warning to sever diplomatic relations with Sweden, and to withdraw Iraqi representation from Stockholm, in order to allow transgression against the Holy Quran.

Other Iraqi political parties and organizations have also condemned the repetitious attack on Islamic sanctity, many saying it “would not have been repeated had it not been for the hostile policy of America and the West.”

In a statement, the Presidency of the Iraqi Sunni Endowment Office called on Arab and Islamic countries to follow the example of the Iraqi government in its position, which the statement described as honorable, in reference to the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador from the country.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry has summoned the Swedish ambassador, informing him of its strong protest against the Swedish government’s repeated permission to offend the Holy Quran.

“We strongly condemn the repeated desecration of the Holy Quran and Islamic sanctities in Sweden, and we hold the Swedish government fully responsible for the consequences of inciting the feelings of Muslims around the world,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said.

“Continuing to desecrate Islamic holy places and spreading hatred in this way is considered a perfect example of organized violence and a hostile action against the world’s two billion Muslim population, God-believing people and followers of the heavenly religions,” Kanaani stated.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has called on the UN Secretary-General to condemn the sacrilegious actions against Islam, saying they only spread Islamophobia and extremism.

Abdollahian told the UN chief that the desecration of the Quran as well as other holy books under the pretext of freedom of expression will spread hatred, violence and xenophobia.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Bangladesh are among the Muslim countries that have summoned Swedish envoys conveying their strong condemnation over the latest sacrilegious act.

Jordan condemned the Quran’s desecration “as a reckless act that fuels hatred, and a manifestation of Islamophobia that incites violence and insult to religions”, its Foreign Ministry said.

Turkey strongly condemned the “despicable attack” on the Quran, calling on Sweden to take “decisive measures to prevent this hate crime” against Islam, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

“We strongly condemn the despicable attack targeting our sacred book, the Quran in front of Iraq’s Stockholm embassy,” a statement by the Foreign Ministry noted.

The Lebanese Hezbollah chief has called on all Muslim governments to follow Iraq’s path and expel Sweden’s ambassadors from their counties.

He said if the burning of the Quran occurs again, countries should sever diplomatic ties with Sweden in line with Iraq’s policy.

The al-Azhar University led the condemnations by Muslim Sunni organizations across West Asia. The highly-respected university said the “approvals to burn the Quran reflects chaotic policies, hateful extremism and support for terrorism.”

Pakistan, which holds the presidency for the OIC, was among other Muslim countries that condemned in the “strongest possible terms” yet another Islamophobic act of public desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said, “From the platform of OIC, we will create a common strategy to remedy this evil,” Sharif said in a statement. “The OIC is to play a historic role in expressing the sentiments of the Muslim world and stopping this evil.”

“The sequence and continuity of the events is evidence that this is not an expression, but part of a political and satanic agenda,” Sharif noted. “All Muslims and Christians will have to jointly put an end to this conspiracy.”

“Permission to carry out premeditated and provocative acts of religious hatred cannot be justified under the guise of freedom of expression, opinion and protest,” the Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement.

The disturbing recurrence of such Islamophobic incidents, which have hurt the sentiments of over 2 billion Muslims worldwide, is both legally and morally reprehensible.

The sacrilegious action and other anti-Muslim measures in the West have been limited only to Islam by groups of far-right extremists. The Western governments’ inaction against the blasphemy has infuriated the Islamic world.

Three such incidents have occurred in Sweden this year alone, triggering calls in West Asia for the boycott of Swedish products.
Experts say Israel and the U.S. seek a sinister goal by orchestrating such sacrilegious acts as they have a long tradition of anti-Islam prejudice.

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People held monumental rallies across several Muslim countries throughout the world, condemning instances of desecration of the Holy Qur’an in Europe. In Bangladesh’s capital of Dhaka, Muslims gathered outside a mosque after Friday prayers to voice outrage over acts of blasphemy targeting the Muslim holy book by extremist European figures, AFP reported.

The rally came after a notorious Swedish-Danish extremist, Rasmus Paludan, received permission from Sweden’s government to burn the holy book in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm less than a week ago. Paludan was being protected by the Swedish police while committing the sacrilege.

The incident was followed by Edwin Wagensveld, who heads the Dutch chapter of the German anti-Islam group Pegida’s tearing pages out of the divine book during a one-man protest at The Hague.

Also on Friday, Iranians rallied across the country, including in the capital Tehran, to condemn the acts of blasphemy. They denounced the heinous incidents as acts of incitement and a serious provocation of the feelings of more than two billion Muslims worldwide, calling on European authorities to put an end to hostility towards Islam.

In Afghanistan too, angry Muslims marched in the capital Kabul and other major cities across the country, voicing outrage over the anti-Islam acts.

Bahrain bore witness to similar protests, with protesters marching in the capital Manama despite heightened security measures.

Senior figures have also vehemently condemned the acts of profanity throughout the world’s Muslim countries, including Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

Like other parts of the Muslim world, tempers are running high in Pakistan over the repeated Islamophobic incidents by some European countries in recent days. Outraged Pakistanis took to the streets of the capital Islamabad after Friday prayers to condemn the west for what they call its “malicious anti-Islamic Agenda”.

Protesters chanted slogans and vented their anger against the silence of the west regarding repeated incidents of desecration of the holy Quran and the prophet Mohammad. Demonstrators also called on Muslim nations to boycott European goods over what they describe as the west’s insolent behavior

Demonstrators are demanding that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, known as OIC, raise its voice against the growing intolerance against Islam and anti-Muslim acts across the globe.

The countrywide rallies came days after Pakistan denounced what it described as “the abhorrent act of desecration” of the Quran in Sweden and the Netherlands, saying such acts disrespect Muslims across the globe.

Condemnations continued to pour in from Muslim countries across the world. Yemen, Qatar along with other Islamic nations joined Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey to denounce the desecration.

Meanwhile tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets in the Iranian capital Tehran and other cities to protest against the desecration of the Holy Quran in Europe.

Following the Friday prayers, worshipers gathered across Iran, marched in rallies, and chanted slogans, condemning the insult to the divine book.

The protesters expressed their anger towards the insult which European governments justify under the cloak of the freedom of speech but do not brook any questioning of the Holocaust, for example.

They said the heinous incident is an act of incitement and a serious provocation to the feelings of more than two billion Muslims worldwide. They called on European authorities to put an end to hostilities toward Islam.

On Monday, a Dutch politician tore apart a copy of the Holy Quran in the city of The Hague. It followed an incident in Sweden where a politician burned a copy of the Qur’an outside the Turkish embassy.

The politician committed the scandalous act after receiving permission from Swedish authorities who provided police guards to ensure nobody prevented it.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said the sacrilegious act shows that the arrogant powers’ attacks are aimed at Islam itself.

Referring to the recent insults, Tehran Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Kazem Seddiqi said they show the Western world is afraid of Islam and the Islamic Revolution.

“They are doing these things contrary to their own slogans that call for freedom,” he said.

Unfortunately despite these protest rallies, deafening silence of the so-called rights advocates on desecration of the Holy Qur’an by a notorious Swedish extremist is something funny as the sacrilegious move is a clear example of hate-mongering against Muslims.

The deafening silence of the so-called champions of human rights vis-à-vis the desecration of the Holy Quran is a blatant illustration of incitement to hatred and the proliferation of violence against Muslims, this is what most officials have reiterated and such behaviors have nothing to do with the right to freedom of opinion.

In recent decades the Westerners and especially the Zionists have tried to insult and belittle Muslims in different ways and desecration is one way that they have resorted to it but each time Muslims have turned the table on the offenders and this time once again Muslims proved that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and his Household as well as the Holy Quran are their redlines and they will not accept any insult to their redlines and will show their anger.

Unfortunately some Western countries under the banner of freedom of expression promote and defend such insults but Muslims give no damn to what those countries and nations want because for them, insult is not freedom of expression as Muslims never insult other Divine religions because they have learned to respect Divine religions and their practitioners.

So the recent rise of Muslims against insult to the Holy Quran will be a good lesson to offenders to stop their insulting acts or pay their consequences like what Indian-born British author Salman Rushdie did and saw the consequence of its offence.

The current rise of Muslims against insult to the Holy Quran shows that Muslims may live in different areas and lands but they are united on their basic Islamic principles and will not let them be insulted by anyone under any reason and pretext. So insult against Islam, its sanctities and Holy Quran desecration are not allowed and offenders will get strong response by Muslims.

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The reciters and memorizers have been selected from among those who applied from among 80 countries, the director of the Quran Affairs Center of the State Endowment and Charity Affairs Organization, Hamid Majidimehr, said in a press conference on Sunday.

The number of countries of those who applied for the competition has increased from 70 over the past eight years to 80 in 2023, he said and noted, “This upsurge is significant for the country’s international diplomacy.”

The organizers of the 35th edition of the Quran competition in 2018 said that over 300 reciters and memorizers from 83 countries would participate in the event.

Majidimehr said that the participants have been selected with contributions from the embassies of Iran across the world, and added, “The 2023 competition has been arranged in a way that the entries have deservedly been selected for the contest.”

The competition will be organized at Tehran’s Islamic Summit Conference Hall in early March 2023.

The International Quran Competition is organized by the State Endowment and Charity Affairs Organization annually two weeks before Ramadan.

The Quran Channel of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting records recitations every year to air during the fasting month.

Due to the new coronavirus epidemic in the country, the 2020 International Quran Competition was postponed and the pandemic forced the 2021 competition to go online.

Photo: A file photo shows reciters attending the 36th International Quran Competition at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Mosalla on April 11, 2019. (Tasnim/Vahid Ahmadi)

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We are now in the holy month of Ramadan, and the outbreak of Coronavirus has deprived us, Muslims, of religious gatherings till the layali al-Qadr (Nights of Decree). The Coronavirus Fight National Headquarters, upon the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei’s recommendation, released restrictions for gatherings in mosques,provided that all sanitary protocols are observed, for marking layali al-Qadr to pray God and to seek help from Imam Mahdi (AS) for the better in the year ahead.

IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

Essentially in the holy month of Ramadan and according to what has been cited in the Holy Quran, there is a night which is called “Qadr” and according to the Holy Quran, it is of the best nights of the year. According to reliable quotations from the grandees and scholars of the religion, five nights of Ramadan  Ramadan could be nights of decree which are 17^th, 19^th, 21^st, 23^rd, and 27^th of the month.

But they have put emphasis more on nights of 19, 21 and 23 of the month and there are some quotations from the sixth Imam of Shiites, Imam Jaafar Sadq (AS), who has paid more emphasis on 23^rd of Ramadan as the Night of Decree. There are some narratives from Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) where he has said the Night of Decree will remain with ummah till the Resurrection. The meaning of those narratives is that the Night of Decree is something more than sending down of the Holy Quran. The Holy Quran has been sent down on the Night of Decree but there is something else lying in this night. What is it? Those, who marking this night and believe it, ask what has descended from the Heaven?

Some Muslim scholars and grandees of Shia link fully the meaning of the Night of Decree to the fasting in Ramadan. So we realize that first, fasting prepares the one who fasts in order that he could remove the curtain from his wisdom for better and comprehensive seeing, thinking and learning more than the days that he eats more. Secondly, fasting makes the man feel the pains of other people and it makes his feeling more sensitive and expanded. Thirdly, fasting creates some kind of preparedness and sustainability in man because he stands against temptations and hardships and consequently his patience grows and patience has deep relation with fasting.

The Holy Quran in verse 153 of the Cow Chapter says, “O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer,” and meaning of patience in ahadith (collected sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)) is the very fasting.

So we realize that fasting brings three properties for the human: more understanding, more feeling and more patience. These triple factors are actually tools for human to make decision for forming his future and fate. So the one who fasts has better insight due to his fasting and feels the pains in the society much more, and his patience increases for continuing his path. So this man is the one who can make decision and portray a path for his future and determine his fate in his decisions. And praying and demand from Almighty would help him in this process of improvement.

Imam Musa al-Sadr, the Lebanese leader who has gone missing, may God bless him in interpretation of Ad-Dukhan (the Smoke) Chapter of the Holy Quran which is recited mostly in these days says, “Ha, Meem. By the clear Book, Indeed, We sent it down during a blessed night. Indeed, We were to warn [mankind].On that night is made distinct every precise matter -[Every] matter [proceeding] from Us. Indeed, We were to send [a messenger] As mercy from your Lord. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Knowing.”

Since the word “Dukhan” (smoke) has been mentioned in the chapter, the chapter has been named ad-Dukhan. It is one of the chapters in the Holy Quran which is mostly recited during the Night of Decree. The first six verses of the chapter, which were mentioned above, openly show that the chapter definitely deals with layali al-Qadr (Nights of Decree). So I think it is better to mention some points on this issue which is a complicated one and it is a secret among the Muslims.

This chapter defines the theme and meaning of layali al-Qadr, a meaning which is totally different with the common prevalent meaning because it says, “We have sent the Holy Quran down during a blessed might.” And in the Qadr (Power) Chapter and in its first verse, it has been emphasized that the Holy Quran has been sent down during the Night of Decree, “Indeed, We sent the Qur’an down during the Night of Decree.”

So the blessed night is the very Night of Decree when the Holy Quran has been sent down. These verses interpret the meaning of Night of Decree in this way that the Night of Decree is that night of sending down of the Holy Quran and in the Holy Quran, everything has been clearly defined and everything about halal (allowed), haram (forbidden), right and corrupt as well as legal truths have been cleared. By the way, all definitions about mystical values and Divine teachings and meanings have been mentioned.

Hence, month of Ramadan is an educational course which determines the fate of human, and it means his fate of the whole year is set based on the framework which has been designed in the heart and soul of the pious and the degree of piety in him in Ramadan. It means Ramadan is month of education and because of the Nights of Decree when man reaches this educational course, he would evolve.

This evolution lies in the third decade of the month and according to some narrations, the Night of Decree is one of the last days of the third decade of the month. In some narrations have been mentioned that any man has a Night of Decree which differs from other one’s and this meaning accords with the concept about the relation between the Night of Decree and fasting.

 By: Hamid Reza Naghashian

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